Politics
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Gustavo Arellano: Marco Rubio proves he really is Little Marco
The pet did a neat trick: Before a room filled with heads of state from across Latin America, Little Marco spoke Spanish.
His owner — well, his soul's owner at least— grinned and joked, "I think he's better in Spanish" than in English. Following President Donald Trump, it was Pentagon Pete's turn to tease Little Marco.
"I only speak ...Read more
Editorial: The right's antisemitic fringe vies for influence amid Iran war
Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have wasted no time turning the Iran war into raw material for their anti‑Israel worldview, rearranging facts to fit a narrative they were already committed to.
In the span of days, Carlson has accused the Jewish Chabad‑Lubavitch movement of quietly engineering a holy war, while Owens has declared she ...Read more
Editorial: Yes, Noem is out at DHS, but is Trump's pick to replace her any better?
President Donald Trump’s cabinet is filled with grifters, fools, and thugs. Kristi Noem somehow managed to be all three.
While she will not be missed as head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, her proposed replacement, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, hardly seems any better.
The Senate, which must confirm the next secretary, should ...Read more
Kaitlyn Buss: Trump's biggest political battle isn't in Iran -- it's at home
Donald Trump has chosen to govern as a wartime president. But history shows that military strength abroad rarely saves a president who is losing control of the political battlefield at home.
Trump’s campaign against Iran — from airstrikes on strategic targets to the killing of top Iranian leadership — has quickly become the defining ...Read more
Editorial: America is not ready for a long war in Iran
It is now clear that the joint United States-Israeli war on Iran will not result in a quick capitulation by the Islamic Republic or an uprising by the Iranian people, as was clearly hoped for by the Trump administration.
This was sealed Friday by President Donald Trump’s demand that the Iranian regime “unconditionally surrender” — a ...Read more
John M. Crisp: To understand Iran, start its history in the right place
In an effort to justify his war on Iran, President Donald Trump turned to history. He begins with 1979, the year the Islamic Revolution deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and replaced him with the government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran has been a problem ever since. Forty-seven years of repressive theocratic rule hasn’t been good for...Read more
Ronald Brownstein: Trump's Iran war will compound his affordability woes
The war with Iran is burning the clock on President Donald Trump’s chances for a reset with voters on the economy. And that increases the odds that his 2026 messaging will focus on disqualifying Democrats with polarizing wedge issues — a strategy that has mostly, though not entirely, failed for other presidents.
As the midterm primaries get...Read more
Commentary: Trump's deportation rhetoric reveals a culture of state punishment
“’I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” President Donald Trump, September 6, 2025
This statement, made by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, referencing protests against ICE and mass deportation, draws attention to a problem that is not discussed ...Read more
Commentary: Can AI fill out a winning March Madness bracket?
The end of the college basketball season is fast approaching. Selection Sunday is less than a week away, with dozens of teams waiting to see where they will be seeded and, for some, if they fall on the right side of the bubble. This also means that college basketball fans are sharpening their pencils to fill out their March Madness bracket.
...Read more
Commentary: Refund the tariffs the right way -- not with political math
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s tariffs were unlawful, it resolved a constitutional question. What it did not resolve is how to unwind the economic damage.
Gov. JB Pritzker has called for roughly $1,700 per Illinois household — about $8.7 billion total — arguing that families effectively paid an illegal tax ...Read more
George Skelton: Promising free college tuition is good politics -- and a good idea
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One unique perk California kids enjoyed for generations was tuition-free college. Now, a candidate for governor promises to bring that back. And bravo for her.
The candidate, former congresswoman Katie Porter of Orange County, even suggests a way to pay for her bold pledge. That’s unusual for a politician. It’s ...Read more
Mark Gongloff: The insurance crisis is so desperate people are turning socialist
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Americans seem increasingly desperate about the cost of home insurance.
In a recent survey of U.S. homeowners, large percentages backed some pretty unrealistic solutions to the problem of soaring insurance costs.
Many involve socializing the industry in ways that would keep capitalists awake at...Read more
Commentary: How union bargaining can buoy affordability
Majorities of Americans say their top political issue is affordability. That means we can expect policymakers to increasingly focus on cost-of-living issues. As we close in on the midterms, this focus will become even more intense.
But, so far, the affordability agenda has targeted the important goal of reducing costs. But prices are only half ...Read more
Lisa Jarvis: Tired of spending billions on dementia care? Try a brain workout
If ever you needed a nudge to give your brain a workout, new research underscoring the benefits of “brain training” should offer fresh motivation.
The two long-term studies add to a growing body of evidence that people can boost their brain health by doing mentally stimulating activities, such as learning a language, visiting a museum or ...Read more
Editorial: Cleaning up after Tariff Man: Trump can't get away with second set of illegal tariffs
Having been ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court, the damage of Donald Trump’s foolish tariffs is being unwound. His destructive idea was that the tariffs were needed because the largest economy in the world should have no trade deficits with any other country on the planet.
That was always ridiculous, yet he was able to get away with ...Read more
Commentary: The first places I'll visit when Iran is free, if Iran is free
We were on a bus to visit the beautiful city of Masuleh. And like any trip in Iran, the journey was just as much fun as the destination.
Our tour guide sat at the front of the bus with a tombak (drum) and started singing: “Fahtee, Fahtee, Fahtee, Fahtee, Fahtee, az esghet kardam gharo ghaty. Fahtee joon,”
Fahtee is a woman’s name. ...Read more
Mark Z. Barabak: Culling the field for California governor? Don't look at me, says Betty Yee
OAKLAND, Calif. — Betty Yee knows what people are thinking. She's heard what they've said and read the many emails she's gotten.
The former state controller has been running for California governor longer than just about anybody in the cheek-by-jowl field. And yet the Democrat is bumping along near the bottom, a blip in polls and a laggard ...Read more
Steve Lopez: Horrified by the state of the union, he's an angry protester. But he's also optimistic
LOS ANGELES — I know a lot of people who suffer from a chronic malady that gets worse each time there's news out of Washington. Supporters of the current president of the United States might refer to this condition as a side effect of Trump derangement syndrome, but it's more like Trump fatigue syndrome.
Symptoms can include a desire to tune ...Read more
Robin Abcarian: The Epstein files are off the front page, but far from yesterday's news
I'm not saying definitively that going to war against Iran when there was no imminent threat is President Donald Trump's way of distracting attention from the case of Jeffrey Epstein and his voluminous, sordid, incriminating files.
Then again, I'm not not saying it.
We certainly know that Trump has mused in the past about invading Iran as a ...Read more
Commentary: Let's not miss the huge opportunity for peace between Lebanon and Israel
Defeating Iran is the main goal of the current Middle East war, but Lebanon may offer the best opportunity for a breakthrough toward peace — if only President Donald Trump would pay attention.
The opportunity for progress between Beirut and Jerusalem is real. Both countries — technically at war since 1949 — have no territorial claims ...Read more




















































